The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Taking the snap: Jevan Snead
04.01.2006 | Football
How much has it helped you to be here early having already graduated from high school? It was a tremendous help. I really can't imagine trying to come in for the fall and trying to learn everything -- just learning the plays and getting to mesh with the team and meet everybody and get acquainted with school. This way, I'm not overwhelmed in the fall
What was your experience like being able to get together on your own for 7-on-7 before the spring season? It was a great experience. It helped me work with the timing of the receivers, which I wouldn't have had time to work on if I had come in the fall. Everything would have been more rushed, and it's just a lot more relaxed in the spring.
Last year, it was Vince Young getting the wide receivers to 7-on-7, now it's the receivers leading the quarterbacks there, talk about their initiative to do that. They're great. They're older than me for one thing, so they're out there giving me tips. They're not hesitating any to get out there and take their role as leaders right now.
Where do you see the leadership of this year's team coming from? It's coming from some of the receivers, the linemen, we've got some older backs, we've got a lot of great leaders on this team.
How is the feeling in the huddle? It feels good in the huddle because you know that everyone supports you and is behind you. When you have such a great cast around you, it makes it a lot easier for you.
What is your relationship with Colt McCoy like? We're good friends. It's friendly competition. We'll go out and eat dinner together sometimes, and when we step out on the field, we joke around together and have a good time.
How has he helped you? He's helped me a lot. When I first got here, just going out and throwing with the receivers, in a 7-on-7 situation, he helped me a lot with what routes they're going to run and helped teach me the signals and things like that.
With the team potentially using two quarterbacks, how would you see that meshing together? I think it'll work well. It just comes down to what the coaches feel is best for the team. Whatever they decide, I'm sure everything will work out. Coach Davis and Coach Brown have been doing this for a long time, and I'm just going to do whatever my role is. If it takes two quarterbacks, it will work. If it takes one quarterback, it will work. I trust them, that's why I came here.
How much does the game plan shift between when you are in and when Colt is in? I don't think it shifts that much. We both have similar talents. We're not Vince Young, so there's not quite as much running, but we both can run the ball when we need to. I feel like the game plan between us is basically the same right now.
Describe Colt as a quarterback. When I think of Colt, he's really smart. He knows what to do with the ball. He's also just a great athlete.
How are you different from him? I'm not really sure. We're pretty similar. We both had some good success in high school and have similar talents. He likes to hunt and fish every weekend, and I like to hang out at home, but we're pretty similar on the field.
How would you feel if you're not named the starter? That's not going to be decided until the fall. It's a long way away and I understand that I've only been here for a semester, and it's up to the coaches. Whatever's best for the team is going to happen. I'm in this for the long haul, and I have a lot of football in front of me, so I'm just going to do whatever I can do right now and let the coaches decide.
How did Vince Young announcing his decision to go to the NFL affect you? It really didn't affect me. I was already committed here, and I was coming here regardless of if he went pro or stayed. What it did was make me realize that I'm going to have to learn everything a lot quicker. If he had stayed, I probably would have been looking to redshirt and learn behind him, which would have been great, but now that he's leaving, it just makes me want to learn more quickly.
With Coach Davis' reputation for guiding quarterbacks, did that impact your decision to come to UT? Definitely. When choosing a school you have to look at who you're going to be coached by for the next four years. That's definitely a big factor. One of the great things about this school is Coach Davis and his offense.
How big of film studier are you? Coach Davis is encouraging with that. In high school we watched a lot of film also, so I'm pretty used to it. It's something you can always get better at, but I feel like I'm pretty good at it.
What are your feeling heading into a game where you'll first be in front of 50,000 people, and eventually 80,000 and being in that environment? Wow, it's going to be a lot different that high school. It's going to be exciting and I'm looking forward to it.
Tell us about your family, how does it make you feel to have your dad be able to come to practice? It's great. Just growing up, my dad's always been there supporting me, as well as the rest of my family. They haven't missed any games I've played in. When I first started playing football in fourth grade, I lived in a small town, Eden, Texas, and we'd have to drive about 45 miles three times a week to go play pee wee football. My dad would take me three to four times a week with practice and games. He loves that stuff and I love him being around.
What is your dad's background? He ranches and helps out around the school, and my mom's a teacher at a small school outside of Stephenville. She teaches language arts, first grade through sixth grade. It's a really small school.
How about brother and sisters? I've got a brother, he's 12 years old, and a sister who's 23. We're all really close. Me and my sister are closer right now than ever. When she lived in the house, we fought like brothers and sisters, but when she went to college, we got really close. My sister and her husband bought the land right beside our house, and she's expecting in May. Me and my brother, especially since I've moved out, we've gotten pretty close. We still get in little scuffles every now and then, but it's fun.
What kind of atmosphere is there around Stephenville football? I think it's as good as high school football can get. There's such great tradition like here at Texas. Everybody in Austin loves Texas football, and everybody in Stephenville goes to games. It's the place to be on Friday night. Even if we're playing out of town, we know our fans are going to follow us.
How did you lead your team in high school? What was your style? I kind of led by example. I'd be vocal in the huddle and on the sideline, and if I said something, they would listen because we had been through a lot as a team and I earned everybody's respect.
What made you decide to come to Texas? For one thing, my parents and my family haven't missed a game that I've played in. I feel like that's really important to me. Wherever I play, whether it's home or away, they're going to be able to make the game. That's really important. My dad comes to practice whenever he wants, he just drives down, and that's great.
How have you adjusted to campus life? I'm doing pretty good, I feel like. It was rough at first because I didn't know what to expect, but after a couple of weeks you get into a routine, and it's not bad. The classes are a little harder than I expected with a lot more reading, but once you get into the habit, it's not bad.
When did you decide you would try to graduate from high school early? I decided after my junior season. I don't know that I really sat down and decided then, I just thought it would be really good to graduate early. I just took that idea and went from there and I took summer school classes.
How difficult was that? Once I made the decision, it wasn't that difficult. I had kept my grades up and had all my credits, and I basically just had to take government and economics in summer school, as well as the second half of English, so it wasn't too bad.
Going back to football, describe your relationship with the receivers so far, what kind of feedback have they given you? They've given a lot of positive feedback. They told me to settle down when I first got here. I was really antsy and sometimes they'd say I threw it too hard on the short routes from being really excited. One day Limas came up to me and just said, 'Settle down and play your game. You don't have to worry about everything right now. We're just out here having a good time.'
How is your relationship with coaches and coach Brown? My relationship with the coaches is great. Everybody here is just wonderful, not only great coaches, but great people. When you have coaches like that, it's easy to have a great relationship with them. I know that if I need anything, I can go to them and talk.
Who have you gotten close to on the team? Who are your friends? I'm close with everybody. I'm closer to the freshmen that came in with me, just because we're in the same hall in the dorm and everything, and we're in the same situation where we go through a lot of the same stuff, but I hang out with older guys too.
